SOCIETY OF SEVEN

After nine years starring in Las Vegas, the boys are back and they’ve still got it. The Society of Seven is as outrageously fun and colorful as it was before heading to the Entertainment Capital of the World.

The Original SOS Classic team is on stage through Sept. 25 at its showroom in the Outrigger Waikiki. The group will return to the SOS Hawaii showroom for another six-week run in mid-October.

Since appearing on MidWeek‘s cover in August 1987, you can tell the group loves coming back to where it all started.

“We consider this home, it just feels great to be back. We always promote Hawaii and try to live up to the standard that Hawaii set in our hearts,” says original SOS member Tony Ruivivar.

SOS truly is a show group, interacting with the crowd, incorporating comedy, props, skits and even a little cross-dressing, as it performs wild renditions of legendary stars and groups such as Little Richard, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and The Temptations. SOS has been keeping up with the current pop culture, as its version of Beyonce’s Single Ladies can only be described as “hysterically unique.”

SOS has become even more diverse with the addition of performers Elika Santos and Arshiel Calatrava. A sophomore at Farrington High School, Calatrava has an absolutely glowing presence. Her maturity and confidence only heighten the fact that she is a pure singing talent. Santos, a Waipahu graduate who performed on cruise ships before joining SOS, fits in perfectly with all the shenanigans on stage. “Bert (Sagum) does tell me to stop watching the show while performing, but it’s just so funny,” says Santos, whose dynamic covers of Luciano Pavarotti, Simon and Garfunkel, and Journey hits are impressive.

SOS has received its own star on the heralded Las Vegas Walk of Stars, and in 2007 was honored with the Na Hoku Lifetime Achievement award.